WORK is underway to create a 27-hectare nature reserve on the outskirts of Wellington.

The project, to link the Trinity Nature Reserve and the Eastcombe Fields Nature Area, is the final piece of the Wellington Green Corridor scheme, aimed at protecting long-term habitats and easing planning delays for much-needed homes and infrastructure.

When linked, the reserve will include grassland, woodland, hedgerows, lakes and wetlands designed around existing ecological networks to improve habitat connectivity for protected species.

The project is being led by landowners KS Coles in partnership with eco planning group Greenshank Environmental, with plans to designate it a Local Nature Reserve in future.

Kim Connor Streich, CCO of Greenshank Environmental, said: “This is a genuine long-term boost for Wellington. The Coles family have created something special here – space for wildlife, space for nature recovery and a real asset for the local area.

“What I love about this project is its legacy: these habitats will be protected for decades, giving future generations cleaner rivers, more wildlife and a stronger connection to the natural landscape around them.”

The sites are also helping to unblock stalled housing and infrastructure projects by tackling the issue of nutrient neutrality, Kim said, as one of the first UK nutrient-mitigation schemes to use an innovative drainage-ditch system to mitigate phosphorus pollution – which is important in unlocking development potential elsewhere.

Many Somerset projects have stalled amid concerns over phosphorus pollution – with developers able to instead purchase BNG units or nutrient-mitigation credits from the Wellington schemes to offset their own projects.

READ MORE: Environment news from your Somerset Leveller

The final phase of the development links two previous nature reserves. Picture: Greenshank